


The End of All

by archeangel



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23816338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archeangel/pseuds/archeangel
Summary: Arabella finds out that she has daemon blood running through her veins and alongside that revelation she has a whole bunch of other responsibilities dumped onto her. Can she successfully help be a part of something momentous, or will she crumble underneath all the pressure and give in?
Kudos: 2





	1. A Nice Summer Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i........ dont usually write!! this is a little passion fanfiction for enderal created by sureAI! im too nervous to put it into the main tags so this is mostly for friends to read, so i hope that's okay! its just something for me to do for fun :o

Rays of light shone through the sky as a lone woman stood in the middle of a field. Something about this scene felt very familiar to her. Time seemed to be at a standstill, nothing daring to change lest the scene become shattered. There was not a sound to be heard but in the air hung a heavy feeling that made her want to scream out. In front of her sat a hill, a single stone path winding its way up towards the top where an old wooden building rests. 

A voice tugged at her conscience, ‘ _I have to talk with Daddy. He wants to tell me something important._ ’ Her body began to take shaky steps forward against her own will, slowly walking down the beaten stone path. She was able to regain some of her control when she passed by the remnants of a burnt building, the only thing remaining was the foundation underneath, another whim beckoning her to check it out.

She approached it with caution, something felt incredibly off about the space she was occupying. Like everything was simultaneously real yet also a figment of her imagination. As she passed into the threshold of the building, she was greeted with the sight of a charred floor and ashes in the air that made it hard to breathe. Clearly something had set this place on fire, but who did it and why they did it was still unknown. The first, and only, thing that caught her attention was a book, neatly placed beside a stone fireplace that was still fully intact. 

The book looked newly made, a very stark comparison to all the ashes and burnt wood that was strewn about the place. She took it in her hands, fingers dusting over the gold lettering on the front that read ‘ Nutritiousness of Meat ’. Odd, yet still very intriguing.

_Meat is life._

_Even the ash people who were populating this world before us knew that. Each time they killed an enemy in a battle, they tore out the liver and heart of the fallen and ate them together with their family. By doing so, just as everyone knows, the strength of the beaten enemy is passed on._

_But as we are living in a time in which eating fellows is nonsensically seen as barbaric, we, the friends of the bloody meat, have to settle for animal sources._

Confusion riddled the young woman’s face, everything becoming even more unclear as she continued on in this place. She placed the book back down where she found it and began to walk back to the stone path, hurrying along so she could shake off the odd feeling that seemed to come with this place.

As she approached the beginning of the incline two things lay on the dirty path in front of her. A second copy of the ‘Nutritiousness of Meat’ book and then a doll that looked suspiciously like something someone would practice voodoo on. This place was seriously giving her the creeps now. She began to pick up her pace after taking a few cautious glances around, the idea of possibly being watched was striking her. She could feel her skin crawl by even just considering the idea.

But even as she felt the urgency to get to the top, she was still drawn towards the sight of a towering statue beside something that looked like a grave adjacent to almost the top of the hill. Before she could even stop herself, her feet dragged her towards the grave as she lifted a hand to softly run over the words engraved. Her brain felt too muddled to comprehend any of them though, all of a sudden the words seemed to stall on her tongue and a foggy sensation seemed to pass over her brain. A quick glance to the side revealed a letter which her shaky hands made their way towards. As she unfolded it she found it was written in a different language, one that she could currently comprehend.

_Oh Lord, oh Maker,_

_I can hear You calling. I feel Your love, I know about Your sacrifice._

_Without You, I am nothing, a twig on the currents of time, a sheep without shepherd._

_Free me from my vices and forgive me my trespasses._

_Forgive too my wife and my child,_

_Deliver me from my pains_

_And bless us with Your everlasting mercy._

Even though she could read the note, she could find no sense of relief over it. The hair at her neck stood up as she was even more alarmed than before, something she didn’t think was possible.

An audible cough was heard from the top of the hill, followed by the crack of something the woman deemed as wood, hopefully. She very shakily made her way to the top of the hill, hand clutching the note hard enough to make it crumple within her grip. The scene she was met with was that of a tall man dressed in commoner’s clothes. In his hands he clutched an axe, while piles of wood were gathered on the floor around him. Everything about it seemed normal, except for the fact that blood was evident on the tree stump that was being used as the chopping platform. Where the blood came from she couldn’t even begin to guess, and wouldn’t be given the opportunity to wonder because the minute she was spotted he began to talk to her.

“Oh, hey there, I didn’t even see you coming! So, how did it go? Did you find it?” He looked at her with expecting eyes, a look that was meant to convey warmth but only caused more seeds of worry to plant their way into her brain.

The response found its way tumbling out of her lips before she could even stop herself, “What is this place, daddy? Where are we?”

“Where are we? We’re at home, silly, where else would we be? Just mommy, sister, you and me. Now tell me, how did it go? Did you find it?” The words were much more forceful the second time out of his mouth. The woman could feel her mind blank as she tried to fit the pieces of this puzzling conversation together.

“No… I didn’t,” She supplied as an answer as the words lit up her mind. 

“No? Hm, pity… maybe you’re simply looking in the wrong places, did you ever think of that?” His gaze burned into hers, the sinking feeling becoming even more prominent. “Ah, well… who knows. Say, why don’t you go inside and see if you can help mommy with the cooking… The Creator was kind to us today and sent a big, fat elk right in front of my bow. Alright?”

With that the man turned his attention back to his task at hand while he picked up another piece of wood and dropped it onto the platform. Rigidly, the woman took a few steps away, taking in the look of the house beside her. It was very old she found out, as the wooden steps up to the door creaked beneath her weight. When she reached the top the door swung open without even a warning, and she cautiously took a step inside. 

The place looked homely, but homely in a serial killer way. The walls were adorned with unsettling imagery of human organs and haunting paintings of cannibalism. Not wanting to uncover anymore horrifying secrets, the woman walked into the kitchen. The fireplace was lit, casting a soft glow over the entire room. There was the carcass of an elk laid out in the middle of the room on a rug, blood pooling around it as the odor of death wafted throughout the room. 

She found herself tensing and straightening up as she heard whistling, a sign that the man her brain referred to as daddy was on his way to the kitchen. The sound, as much as everything else she’s encountered, was unsettling. She turned towards the door and waited with her anxiety peaking for him to walk through.

He stopped in front of her, smiling wide, “My my, I totally forgot what a mess I left in here. But I was right, wasn’t I? A real gem we’ve got here…” He placed a hand across her shoulder and spun her around to face the carcass. “Well then… Let’s waste no more time and get to it, shall we?” He gave her a squeeze on the shoulder.

Once again, her mouth opens involuntarily, “But… what about mommy and sister?” She would just have to accept at this point that she has no control over herself at the moment.

“What?” He took his hand off of her shoulder and took a step back. He shook his head like he was laughing and then continued, “Now would you look at that, I totally forgot about them. They’re dead, don’t you remember? You murdered them back then, both of them.” 

She could do nothing but stand there frozen. All of her senses completely shut off and she stood there paralyzed in fear. That felt like a huge accusation, saying that she killed people she couldn’t even remember. But she could not rebuke, no words would come out before he kept talking.

“But hey, no use crying over spilled milk, right?” His creepy smile being directed back to her. “At least that means there’s more meat for the two of us. You still remember how to do this, right? First, off with the skin, slice up the belly, then out with the entrails.”

He took steps forwards deeper into the kitchen, rummaging around for something. “I’ll go look for a nice, sharp knife in the meantime to cut off the head. I don’t think either of us wants to eat that, do we?” A laugh shook his entire body as if he wasn’t aware of the silent crisis the woman he passed was experiencing. 

“But I didn’t kill them, daddy, it was the masked men!” She cried out, almost whining, sounding much younger than she was. She tightened her fists and felt her eyes water, so many emotions bubbling up that she couldn’t tell which one she was experiencing the most. 

“Oh, silly… what’s this again?” He returned to rummaging throughout the drawers, “We both know that’s a lie, you did it. I remember it all. First, you set this horrible fire to your sister’s crib… She screamed and screamed and mommy heard it, but when she finally got there, nothing was left of her but burnt flesh. And- Oh gosh, do we really need to go through this again?” He sighed as if this was the most taxing conversation he had ever had. “You know how sad it makes me when you do this!” 

He stood up, a sharp knife in his hand that he jutted towards her, almost like he was threatening her. “You killed them, period, and no matter how often you tell me you didn’t, it changes nothing- You hear me, nothing! Now please, let’s start cooking, I am so bloody damn hungry!” 

She couldn’t catch the outburst as it came out for a second time, “But I didn’t kill them, daddy, it was the masked men!”

“By the Creator’s name…” He snarled out, stabbing the knife into the wall of the house and then slowly began raking it down the wood. “Why are you telling these lies? Isn’t it enough that you murdered us? Do you really have to bother me over and over with your stupid, pathetic, and pointless whining?!” 

He let out an exasperated sigh, clearly done with the conversation, and began muttering angrily to himself. “You know… Sometimes I wish the Creator would have made me just a little less merciful, just a little less… pious. Because then I would have realized that you were tainted by sin long before any of this had ever happened.” He turned towards the window that held a view outside, the sun since gone down, and continued out. His anger growing more and more apparent with each word spat out. “And instead of raising you, feeding you, and loving you like a father does, I would have put you in the horse trough right after you were born. Yes… Yes! I should have killed you. I should have just killed you!” 

The woman pleaded and begged for her legs to let her move, to let her run away from this horrifying scene that was unfolding in front of her. But her body did not accept it, she was still frozen in terror.

“Just like you killed us. And now… Now you think you’re safe because we’re all under the earth, don’t you? Well, listen up, ‘ _my child_ ’, You are wrong! And do you know why? Because the dead don’t forget! Do you hear me? The dead don’t forget!” Every single word was louder than the last, his voice booming at this point. The fireplace exploded with a spark and soon the room was engulfed in flames. “Now enough of this useless chatter, I’m bloody starving! Bring me the meat, you spoiled brat, bring it to me!” 

The man took wide strides towards the carcass of the elk, unphased by the fact that flames danced over everything including his skin. He was too blinded by anger to care. The woman felt panic fill her body while bile rose in her throat. But no matter how hard she willed her body to move it refused to listen to her. She was stuck in place forever.

“Bring me a nice, crisp piece of meat! Bring me a nice, crisp piece of meat! Bring me a nice, crisp piece of meat! Bring me a nice, crisp piece of meat!” He chanted while tearing at the rotting flesh of the elk’s meat. The flames kept rising higher and higher, there was no escape. The air became too heavy to breathe in anymore and then the last thing the woman remembered was blacking out. 


	2. It All Begins With A Dream

“Arabella! Arabella!” The woman felt hands on her body aggressively shaking her to wake up. “Quiet, damn it! You wanna wake up the entire ship or what?”

She blinked her eyes open, they burned with the evidence of tears left on her face. She awoke in a ship’s cabin with only a dim lantern illuminating the presence of her companion who was sitting atop a barrel to her right side. Her companion was a young man around her age, someone she remembered as Sirius. Her memories began to catch up with her, both her and Sirius were currently playing stowaways on a boat headed towards Enderal. Neither of them could handle the life of being a slave in Nehrim and wanted to get out as soon as possible, so their only option was to sneak on a boat and start a new life. Placed around both of them were a bunch of crates, blocking the view of the entrance from them for protection, and the floor was littered with straw and a couple of pieces of stale bread.

“Sorry, that was a bit harsh. I’m just… nervous, that’s all. It was that dream again, wasn’t it?” He whispered the question over to her, a sincere look of concern present in his eyes.

She took a few seconds to collect herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and then answered with a soft, “...Yes.”

“Seriously, if we had a penny for every night since we met where you woke up screaming, we’d probably be traveling to Enderal in our own starship, and not like this. Some things never change, I guess.” He sighed wistfully and leaned back in his seated position. “Do you ever ask yourself if maybe you blame yourself for all of this? For what happened to your family, I mean?”

Letting out a deep sigh, she didn’t want to get into this conversation again. She settled with the answer, “I don’t know, maybe? But even if I _do_ , what difference does it make?” 

“None. You’re right.” He glanced towards the flickering candle in the lantern, “But who knows? Maybe everything is going to be different now.” 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both caught deep in their own thoughts while the ship slowly tilted back and forth. After a few glances towards Arabella, Sirius decided to open up conversation again. “It’s strange, isn’t it, the way life sometimes goes? If you had told me that a few weeks ago, I would have at the very least called you insane.” He started to anxiously play with his hands, nerves and excitement both evident in his voice, “But if the stories are true, there’s no better place for a fresh start. Can you believe it, apparently, there aren’t even any slaves on Enderal? It’s amazing.” He continued on, an even brighter expression appearing on his face. After a few moments of dreamily looking off to the side, he let out a heavy sigh. “The only thing that sucks is this whole ‘blind passenger’ thing, it makes my head ache.”

“It’s not our fault that the ship is so poorly guarded.” Arabella muttered out with a shrug, “We couldn’t have afforded a passage fee anyways.” 

“Not our fault? Damn it, we are thieves! Frauds! And unlike you, I actually have a problem with that!” He tugged a hand through his blonde hair, clearly riddled with guilt over the situation. If Arabella had a single caring bone in her body she would’ve shot him a sympathetic glance, but she doesn’t so she didn’t. 

“What’s done is done, I just hope Endraleans are easier on outlanders than the Nehrimese are.” He seemed to have recovered fast, but this wasn’t anything new between them. Sirius had learned long ago that Arabella’s moral compass doesn’t point in the same direction as his. 

“It’s your turn to stand watch now, I’m going to use this opportunity to rest,” Sirius yawned as he took a stand from the barrel he was at. “W-Wait! Do you hear that?” 

Both of them instantly felt their blood run cold, two voices slowly drifted up to where they were hiding and the click of the metal lattice door opening. 

“Ah, lad… Women nowadays just don’t want a man to court them anymore, that’s the problem. I tell ya, sometimes I long for the good ol’ days. Back then I could lift a skirt and nobody would bat an eye.” They heard a man grumble out and it was followed by a hum of agreement from another man. Arabella clenched her fists, ‘ _Fuckin Assholes_ ,’ she thought. 

Sirius shifted his position towards the crates blocking the view, peering through a few cracks between them. Arabella took that moment to reach forward and extinguish the lantern, hoping that the men approaching didn’t notice the change. They were probably too drunk to notice anyway.

“Enough of the chit-chat. Now where did I put that key?” The same man from before began rummaging around through the room, and Sirius shot Arabella a look of alarm. They both held their breath as the man continued, “Argh, it smells like Vatyr’s balls down here. Say now, what does that damn chest look like again?” 

“Small, and with the crest of the Blue Island Coalition on it, I think,” The other man with him answered.

“Ah, yeah, right, Black Guardian knows what the captain wants it for this shortly before arriving. You go check over there, I’ll see if I can find it over here.” They could both make out the silhouette of the first man gesture towards where they were hiding. This was bad, this was really bad.

“Shit.” Sirius breathed out, tensing next to her, “They don’t leave us any choice. We need to do something…” He crossed his arms and a look of worry appeared on his face before he ended up letting out a deep breath. “I guess we’re just going to have to take them on, we’re on even footing right now.”

That was all Sirius had to say to trigger a fight response in Arabella’s head. She really needed to get out some aggression after that horrible nightmare again. Both her and Sirius stood up, not caring about being stealthy at all anymore, and then rushed the men. The men were too shocked to move for a few moments, the element of surprise working to Sirius and Arabella’s favor. 

Sirius took on the weaker man present which was probably for the best because Arabella had more experience brawling. You don’t have a temper and wayward behavior like hers and not have experiences constantly being at other’s throats. So she did what she knew best, something that came very natural to her, as she ducked and dodged a flurry of fists thrown her way. She could feel her muscles tighten up and suddenly she regretted the idea of not stretching, but who could’ve known that they would be throwing down with people right now. 

After a rather pitiful display of defense from the men, they were down on the floor unconscious. Arabella smirked while rolling her shoulder to try to make it feel less tense. Being able to work feelings out through her fists was what she did best.

On the other hand, Sirius was beside himself, “Oh man, oh man, oh man! This wasn’t part of the plan!” Yet again he began pulling his hands through his hair. Arabella shot him a look, one that hopefully communicated her thought of ‘ _What the fuck did you think would happen when we took them on in a fight?_ ’

“What in blazes are we going to do now?” He panicked.

“It’s safer to just kill them,” Arabella informed him while she was nudging one of the incapacitated men with her foot.

“Kill them?! Are you out of your mind? I don’t want to start my new life as a murderer!” A handful of negative emotions evident in his voice, one Arabella knew would come out soon enough in a breakdown.

“You won’t be a murderer if I’m the one that kills them,” Arabella pointed out while searching the room for any type of blade or sharp object, “I really don’t mind having blood on my hands and if you ask me they deserve it.” 

“Oh bloody hell,” He yanked one of her arms and forced her to look him in the face. They stood there for a few moments, his eyes searching hers for any sign of remorse. “I don’t know when you became like this, but I think it’s cause for serious concern.”

She shrugged his hand off of her arm, starting to get pissed off at him. If there was one thing she hated it was people trying to change her. So what if she had gotten more aggressive lately? If her nightmares were going to tell her she was a murderer she might as well make it true. There was no escaping anything and it was a kill or be killed world. Sirius would have to realize that, and it’s better done sooner rather than later. 

“We’re just going to tie them up and gag them, they said it wouldn’t be long until we arrive.” He turned away from her, pinching the bridge of his nose like this entire ordeal was giving him a headache. “Please just help me find a rope, we can talk about this later.” 

Arabella frowned at the implication that more time would be spent on this discussion. She begrudgingly agreed to help him, starting to shuffle around the room to find anything that could help them. A tension filled the air, thick enough to be cut with a knife, and she knew that something had officially changed between them. 

He would leave her. Just like the others, he would see how awful she was and she couldn’t play it off anymore. Everyday she can feel something deep inside her stir like a demon just waiting to be called out to. Memories flashed through her mind, memories from being a child. All the adults would forbid their children to be around her, and she always heard hushed whispers from them about how she had a demon’s spirit inside her. Her mind was hazy over a lot of her memories, so she didn’t know what exactly had happened to her family. But as every day passes it becomes more evident that maybe she did kill them. Maybe she really was this beast everyone viewed her as and there’s no changing that. Whatever it was going on with her, there was something deeply wrong about it.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by the sound of the lattice door opening again. In the doorway stood a woman with a face obscured by a giant veil. She wore robes in the color deep gray and when she spoke she sounded older than she seemed to be, “Poor, lost souls. The probabilities have turned against you.”

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sirius shaking, clearly disturbed by all the going ons of the day. When Arabella glanced back to the woman at the door she didn’t feel fear. Sure, there was a haunting feeling, but she sensed no imminent danger. She felt more intrigued than anything as a sense of familiarity passed over her.

“Who are you?” Sirius asked in a voice almost too quiet to be heard. 

“You are confused by my sudden appearance… But my identity is irrelevant. As are you, dear Sirius… unfortunately.” Her voice was very ethereal, very easy to be drawn into. Arabella was hanging onto every word she said but only after a few seconds had it dawned on her what the veiled woman had meant.

Sirius started to plead with the woman, “Shit, please don’t tell anyone we’re down here, please! We didn’t mean any harm, these guys were just-”

“You ask that I not reveal you, for your intentions were not evil… and I believe you,” She cut him off, “But sadly, it’s not compassion that rules my deeds. The first beat of a wing must happen. It is the only way the probabilities will fall into place… This is the way it has to be; the way it has been for eons.” 

Arabella found herself enthralled by the woman’s words. It was a very stark difference from how Sirius was dealing with all the information, but granted that her life was not just threatened. 

“I am sorry.” The veiled woman whispered softly, with the slightest hint of regret. Arabella felt a tingling sensation run throughout her body, and judging by the noise of exclamation out of Sirius, he did too. They were both slowly lifted up into the air, black dots obscuring their vision as the magic the veiled woman cast took over them.

“What are you doing?! Please, don’t leave, we just wanted to- we just wanted to get away!” Sirius had never begged this hard before. He let out a loud yell from beside her as the magic tightened through their chests. A deep sinking feeling wormed its way into Arabella’s gut, but she tried to ignore it as best as she could. She felt a jolt of pain when the loud sound of thunder boomed throughout the room, heat surging it’s way through her body.

It was hot. Way too hot to be normal. She had no control of her body as she rose higher into the air and a headache suddenly became present. Visions flashed their way through her mind, scenes of an underwater shipwreck, burnt corpses attempting to escape something, mountains covered in many waterfalls, a mysterious machine covered in overgrown vines, and finally the entrance to some kind of temple. Then her mind blanked. What once was full of images and voices was now empty. That was the last thing she could remember before she blacked out yet again.


	3. Legends of the Hidden Temple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cut out so much of the beginning tutorial because frankly, im new to writing full things, and there is just too much that happens. FUCK that temple man, this is just one of those chapters that i had to get out of the way that i didn't feel particularly motivated to write!  
> and also yes, i am yoinking some elder scrolls stuff, except for fact i know practically nothing about what i am WRITING! so my lore now babey  
> also fuck proofreading id rather perish right now than reread this heaping mess

“What… What happened?” Arabella groaned as she came to. She was laying flat on top of a stone platform, wet from the tiny pool of water beneath her. The air was still around her, a sign that something was already wrong.

It was dark where she was, so she didn’t have to blink too many times to get adjusted to what little light there was. She slowly stood up on the platform and surveyed the area that she found herself in. The stone area she was standing upon was hovering in the air above a sea that expanded for miles. Around the edges of the platform stood five different, tall stone tablets. Further out to sea, there were pieces of broken columns and buildings floating about, giving Arabella a sense that wherever she was couldn’t have been real. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Arabella muttered underneath her breath. “This isn’t real, none of it is real. What has been a dream and what hasn’t, I couldn’t even say anymore.” 

She turned to the stone tablets, wanting to inspect each of them because if she was here for a while she might as well stick her nose in everything she can. Her attention was first drawn to a slim tablet standing to the left of her, because at the very bottom of it there was a glowing light. The tablets appeared to have holes carved into them, each hole signifying something different she assumed. She very lightly ghosted her hand over the glowing spot and felt a magic touch pulse through her veins. 

She immediately ripped her hand away from the stone, rather shocked even though she knew it was possible something could happen. 

“Didn’t you learn not to touch random things without knowing what they are? I would like to think that someone of your kind would be smarter.” An amused voice called from behind her.

Turning around fast enough to almost get whiplash, Arabella was faced with another masked woman. Except this time she was almost transparent, some kind of ghostly presence. 

“Who are you?” Arabella glared, tired of being thrown into one magically infused encounter after another one. 

“My child, that is no way to greet your true mother.” The ghostly woman floated herself over to where Arabella stood, letting out a smug laugh.

“I’m sorry- my what,” Arabella clutched her head, a searing pain inside it flaring up as she tried to dig deep in her memories. Seemed like everything caused her pain today.

“My name’s Vaermina, and I’ve been waiting so long for you to awaken. It’s been awfully lonely spending time here by myself.” The ghost woman lightly laid her hand on Arabella’s shoulder. Despite not appearing real her hand held some weight to it. “You know, everyone was right about you. There is a daemon inside of you.” 

Arabella couldn’t see it, but she could hear the smirk of the woman in front of her. “You can’t just- I’m not- Okay look.” Arabella rubbed her fingers onto her temples, this wasn’t the time for a huge revelation. “I don’t know who you are and I don’t know why my subconscious crafted you, but just humor me here. Suppose I believed you, can you tell me where we are?”

“Ah yes, we’re currently in part of The Void. This is your own personal meditation area where you can choose to become more powerful while you’re alive.” Vaermina gestured towards the stone tablets around her. “Each of these stones hold powers greater than you can imagine. It is up to you whether you want to put them to use or not.”

Arabella took a moment to let her brain catch up with what the masked woman was saying to her. “But… Why me? Why is this all happening now?”

“You, my child, have been selected to take part in something momentous.” The smirk was back in Vaermina’s voice. She was really enjoying this, wasn’t she? Arabella felt an abundance of questions pass through her mind, but every time she went to voice something the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth. 

“Worry not, things will become clear soon enough. But we should talk about the skill you have gained.” Vaermina softly took one of Arabella’s hands into her own. She was tempted to yank it back from her, but at this point putting up a fight was useless. She could feel the power emanating off of the spectre in front of her, and she wasn’t going to attempt to fight it at this point.

“The talent you have been gifted came from the Phasmalist tablet. When you touched the light you absorbed the ability to interact with souls,” Vaermina explained as if those words were commonly spoken. 

‘ _Phasmalism_ ,’ Arabella recalled, ‘ _I think I’ve read about that somewhere... I’m pretty sure it was a crime to practice?_ ’

“Phasmalism is indeed frowned upon,” Vaermina answered, amused by the look of shock crossing over Arabella’s face. “My child, we share a connection that runs deep through our blood. I can understand all your thoughts. But I digress, the fact that it’s illegal isn’t relevant.”

“And I guess when has that stopped me before?” Arabella sighed and removed her hand from her mother’s grip. “So if that tablet belongs to the Phasmalism skill, what skill do the others belong to?” 

“I will inform you now that most of them will be irrelevant to your journey to come,” Vaermina floated herself over to one of the stones across the platform. “This one belongs to the art of Lycanthropy. But to practice it you have to have the blood of a werewolf running through your veins. Apologies, but you do not.”

‘ _So why is it even here?_ ’ Arabella rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, positioning herself in a more relaxed stance..

“You were gifted with much better blood than that, though. I marked you when you were born, half of the blood that courses through your veins is mine.” She turned to face Arabella again, ignoring any annoyed thought Arabella was having. “The blood I bestowed upon you is much more valuable, something that if you choose to find the secrets of, it holds the key to immense power.” 

“So who are you, exactly?” Arabella squinted her eyes at Vaermina after a pause, everything that came out of her mouth was more mystifying than the last.

“I’ve told you, I’m your mother.” Vaermina sneered and Arabella could not believe how much she wanted to punch her in the face.

“Yeah, yeah, okay I get that. But I meant _what_ are you exactly?” 

“Your worst nightmare,” The sound of silence settled on top of them for a few minutes, Arabella really trying to hold her temper back for a moment. “Hoo hoo, I jest.” Vaermina snickered, “I’m a daedric prince if you must know.”

Arabella hummed in response, deciding to let the conversation topic drop. If she were ever in the position again, she would have to do some research on daedric princes. There were too many thoughts to process at the moment that she had to let some go.

“Anyways, it’s about time that you woke up again. I’ve kept you for longer than I should have.” Vaermina returned to Arabella and clutched her hand again. “It was a pleasure to finally meet you. I am glad that you are what I spawned, I can sense a lot of potential dwelling underneath your surface. Now off you go, Sirius didn’t die so that you could space out for a while.” 

“Wait, Sirius actually-” Was all Arabella could manage to get out before she felt her body collapse to the floor again.

\-----

When Arabella came to for the nth time that day, she found herself washed up on the coast. Her outfit was soaking wet but she couldn’t find herself much bothered with it because it was pretty much just old rags at this point. She needed to find a change of clothes soon. It did not help the situation that a light shower of rain had just begun. 

Located around her were the mountains and cliffs that had flashed through her mind on the ship. Feeling an uncanny sense of deja vu, she gazed behind her back into the ocean she washed up from. Her head was throbbing at this point while her eyesight faded in and out at random intervals. It felt like she had a fever and she really didn’t want to move from her seat in the sand at all.

‘ _Gods damn it_ ,’ Arabella thought, ‘ _Sirius is dead, I’ve apparently got a crazy mother somewhere, and I’m washed up on the shore of what I hope is Enderal with a pounding migraine and the need to throw up. Just phenomenal.’_

She took a moment to attempt to collect herself before trying to stand up. Deep breaths in and out, in and out. She didn’t know much about Enderal, but she knew from instinct that if she loitered too long something would try to take advantage of her. 

As she took a tentative step forward, more parts of her visions flooded her brain. They were a specific cluster of images, ones that seemed to tell her where she needed to go. In front of her lay an expanse of trees, leading towards a wooded area between two of the cliffs ahead.

Guided by the images, she set forth on a path through the trees. As she climbed her way up, she stumbled upon a skeleton half buried in the dirt. As if it were second nature, she started pawing around it, trying to find if there was anything salvageable. Conveniently there was an unlit torch and a little purse of coins. 

Not one to question her luck when it seemed rather favorable, she tied the coin purse to the worn belt she had secured about her waist. She stuck with holding the torch in her hands though, if she needed to defend herself it could at least act like a club since she couldn’t light it. 

A few steps further she had to stop to catch her breath, practically heaving at this point. She had much more stamina before, what had happened all of a sudden to make her want to vomit the contents of her stomach up? She really hoped she didn’t encounter anything too rough because she did not think she could hold up much longer. 

When she managed to trudge onwards, she came to a stop when an old, rusted entrance to a temple came into view. Yet again, her head flared up in pain and she had to grind her teeth to keep from yelling out. She was _almost_ wishing she had died on that ship instead of being there trembling in pain. Spotting splatters of blood in the dirt, she groaned. They were looking awfully fresh for an area that didn’t seem to have much going on. There was something cursed about that temple, wasn’t there?

 _‘But then again, what hasn’t felt awful lately_ ,’ Arabella bitterly thought to herself. There were rumors in Nehrim that the Gods, also known as the Light-Born, were all dead. She found herself starting to agree with those rumors, because clearly if she was going through this there weren’t any type of higher beings.

She approached the temple entrance when a heavy fog set in. The sight of a decaying, old door overgrown with vines while being shrouded in fog wasn’t exactly a comforting thing. 

_‘Well, If I die today I die! By all means I certainly should’ve already.’_ Arabella had to stop herself from physically rolling her eyes at the thought. She shouldn’t really spend too much time away from civilization unless she wanted to brave a night in the wilderness.

The minute she stepped far enough into the temple she came across an old machine. An ominous pink glow was radiating off of it and she found herself intrigued enough to stop in front of it. She ignored the fact that many skeletons were littered on the floor, nothing would stop her from wanting to touch this magnificent piece of work. 

As she extended a hand towards the foreboding light, she felt a shock make its way through her arm. Alarmed she pulled her hand back immediately, she wasn’t even that close to touching the machine yet.

 _‘What did I tell you about touching things that you don’t recognize?’_ A voice that sounded awfully similar to Vaermina echoed through her head. This time Arabella didn’t stop the eyeroll as it made its way to her face. 

Disheartened by the fact she couldn’t put her hand into the bright light, She turned to examine the room. To the left of her stood a ledge that led deeper into the temple, where she assumed she had to go. Underneath the ledge rested a pool of water, and apart from that the only things left in the area were the machine and some kind of… shrine?

Looking at the shrine sent unease throughout Arabella’s body. Inching her way towards it hesitantly, she saw that carved in the middle of it was someone’s face. Intricate designs sprung from it, Celtic circles and lines aplenty. There was a stand underneath the face, along with something that resembled a keyhole chiseled into it. 

Where there was a keyhole there was always a key, hopefully. Now all she had to do was scavenge and see if she could find it. The skeletons littering the floor finally caught her attention, as she crouched down to try and find anything that could help.

After a couple minutes of scrounging she found a small glowing key underneath a rib cage that was protruding out of the ground. Unphased by the fact that it used to be someone’s body, she pried it out from the ground and then retrieved the key to examine it. It was softly pulsating with a green light, and there was a small humming noise coming from it. Not very comfortable with the implications of that, Arabella turned back towards the shrine.

It took a little bit of time to steady her hand, but she gave in and stuck the key into the keyhole. The room started to shake, pieces of dirt and chunks of rock falling off of the ledge in the corner of the room. Shortly after the room started rumbling, pillars of stone began to rise out of the water to create a staircase to the ledge. 

Arabella didn’t want to even begin to question why this abandoned temple was created this way. She didn’t want to question why it felt like everything was placed specifically where it needed to be so that she could make her way through the area. She didn’t want to question why this place felt so _alive_. 

She clambered her way up the stone pillars, with many pauses to catch her breath, as she attempted to continue on her way. Over the ledge there was a tunnel that seemed to stretch out for miles. The walls were covered with vines stretching as far as they could go and cobwebs from being left alone for so long. The smell of the area was putrid, like the smell of a wet dog mixed with the stench of death. 

With each step she took Arabella could only hope that the exit was near. All she wanted to do was sit down after all of the events of the day and just pretend like everything never happened. She had yet to be able to process anything she had learned and longed for the moment to be able to grieve.

She wasn’t an empathetic or affectionate person by any means, but she was still allowed to be sad she lost Sirius. They hadn’t been on good terms by the end and Arabella couldn’t shake the feeling that she had condemned him by asking him to run away with her. The guilt began to start eating at her, this was all her fault.

When she stepped into something wet she found herself stopping. Looking around she realized she had stopped in the middle of a small stream that crossed an intersection of tunnels where one led right, one led left, and one led straight ahead. 

“This better not be another puzzle,” She threw her head back and groaned. She spent a couple of seconds staring at each entrance to the tunnels. She tried to make out what she could in the darkness to determine which path would be the best for her to try first.

The one that caught her attention the most was the tunnel to her left. If she squinted she could see a soft blue glow reflecting off of the water in the stream. Trudging her way through the water, she made her way into the cavern. 

In the middle of the room there was a giant display contained in some type of mage circle. Around the perimeter of it sat several chairs as if it were a meeting place for a high mage council while directly in the middle of it was a table with a few objects spread about. 

Arabella padded her way up to the table with the intent to take everything on it, but as she crossed past the edge of symbols she let out a scream of agony. She crumbled to the floor immediately, wheezing and coughing up a little bit of blood. There was a heavy pressure against her chest, pushing hard enough for her to be unable to breathe properly. She could feel panic take over her brain as she began to claw at her chest for anything to stop the pain. 

The pain consistently throbbed inside her chest but she was able to move after a couple of moments, still wheezing and clutching herself as if she were dying. She had never willed that one of the Light-Born smote her down more than that moment, furthering the idea that the Light-Born truly were dead. 

Finding herself more frightened by the minute, she made her way up to the table and swiftly looked at what it had to offer. There was an old robe laid out next to a few tomes and scrolls. Everything just seemed to be… convenient enough. Except for the excruciating pain she was in, that is. 

She snatched everything that she could fit in her arms and sluggishly walked out of the circle when the pain subsided into something more bearable. Looking down at what she had grabbed, she looked at the tomes closer. There were two of them, both very old and kind of heavy. It’s a miracle that they were still held together given how damp this temple was. She inspected the first one, a deep purple book with silver engravings on it, and as soon as she opened it she was hit with a wave of magic. 

Bracing herself for the worst, Arabella grimaced, but then opened her eyes when she realized nothing had happened. She felt a prickling sensation in her hand and gently lifted it up, which caused a bolt of lightning to shoot out from it as a reaction.

“Holy fuck,” Arabella wheezed, “I can do magic now.” In an excited hurry she reached for the other tome, a burnt orange book in color with gold engravings on it, and incited the same process she had before. Soon enough there were tiny flames dancing on her fingertips. 

Pausing for a second, she unhooked the torch from its place on her belt, someplace she thought would keep it safe while she was climbing. She willed her hand to create more flames and after a few tries she was able to light it. She let out a smug laugh along with a mutter of, “Of course I can do it,” as if this were her intentions from the start. Any pain she had felt before was forgotten over the excitement of learning magic. 

With a newfound surge of energy, thanks to finally learning some form of protection for herself other than brawling, she found herself back at the convergence of tunnels again. She walked to the one that was straight across the tunnel she first entered from. One of these had to be the correct way out. At least it was easier to see things without squinting from the light of her torch. 

After what seemed an excruciating amount of time, Arabella found herself approaching a rusted golden door which had an elaborate design crafted into it. The ruin seemed to have a lot of ornate decorations with many Celtic symbols on them. It took a couple of tries to make it budge, given how feeble she was at the moment, but she managed to push it open. She almost dropped her torch when she saw the scene before her.

With a flash, the thrumming pain returned to her head once again. It was really becoming the bane of her existence. The door led into a room that had caved in walls along with pieces of debris thrown about. To her immediate right there was the severed head of a giant statue, something she suspected was one of the Light-Born. Which one, she couldn’t even be bothered to find out. 

The most unsettling thing about the room was the fact that it had appeared in one of the visions she saw. What used to be smothered in flames with mass amounts of petrified corpses was now just a dusty old room. Arabella could swear that she could still hear the shrieks of dying people as she tried to power walk through the room to reach another door at the end of it. She just really wanted all of this to end.

Unluckily for her, the next room she entered held a massive crater in the middle of it. There was a gigantic, broken down machine constructed in the middle of it, but it wasn’t as advanced as the other machines she had seen before. The machines she had encountered before were steam-powered, but this one before her felt different. It felt more magically based. It towered up towards the ceiling with several pillars set into a cone formation. At the core of it there were several rings crossed over each other into a spherical container that left her with a sinking feeling of familiarity.

All of a sudden she found herself hunched over the giant hold in the ground, heaving out all the bile she had in her body. It seemed everything in this temple triggered some sort of memory inside her, but at this point she didn’t know if they were hers or from someone else. All she wanted to do was escape Nehrim, to escape from her past and what people were saying about her, but she found herself experiencing so much more pain than before. She would take the old whispers and feelings of loneliness over the distress and voices that called out in her mind. The voices wouldn’t even tell her anything, it was all garbled and just added more disarray to her state. She could only just keep telling herself to hang on. 

When her stomach was fully emptied, she shakily stood up again. Deciding to limit her movements, she scouted around as best as she could from her position. The only place that appeared to be an exit was down at the bottom of the crater, so with another heavy sigh and rub of her fingers on her temple, she eased herself down towards the bottom.

As she crouched around the machine in the middle, while warily eyeing it, she found another door. This one opened up a lot easier than the last few, and as soon as she saw light shining through she couldn’t hold in the sigh of relief. At last she would be free from the feeling of suffocation the temple was giving her.


	4. Chance Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i sat on this chapter for an entire month because i dislike it but i wanna keep moving on T_T

Being outside allowed a wave of relief to crash over Arabella. The sun was slowly lowering in the sky but there was enough daylight left to find someplace to crash for the night. After going through so much today, it had felt like such a far-fetched idea that she could possibly live until tomorrow. 

The exit of the temple resided on top of another hill, but this time it conveniently had a stone staircase leading down to the bottom. It wasn’t too high off the ground, but it was still more steps than she thought she really should’ve been taking. At the very bottom of the hill there was a river running towards the west and after deciding she had no other way to go, she followed the current alongside it.

Proceeding down the path felt like there was some normalcy back into her life. After being hoisted through Hell and back she finally felt confident with the direction she was headed and hoped that soon enough she would be able to figure out what exactly she was going to do. She never took into account the fact that she would actually make it to Enderal and the lack of preparation was starting to pick at her. She hadn’t made plans for anything and hadn’t known much about the continent, that was what she relied on Sirius for.

She felt herself stopping in her tracks when she started to hear the faint sound of panting. Soft, long breaths filled the air and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. On instincts that she didn’t realize she had, she flexed her hand and charged a lightning spell while whipping her head around trying to find the source.

There was nothing that she could make out around her, but the breathing felt like it was right behind her. Thoroughly spooked, she took a deep breath and started retracing her steps into the direction she assumed it was coming. If there was something dangerous lurking she would rather confront it now than be caught off guard minutes down the trail. 

The breathing got louder and heavier as she approached the entrance to a small cave that was tucked away into the side of the hill. Perhaps even more of a den than a cave, but it was properly hidden, the entrance being obscured by long tendrils of vines. Taking another deep breath in, she pushed aside the vines and was met with the sight of a wolf crouched over a rotting corpse.

The wolf, who had already caught wind of her before she noticed it, bared its fangs before immediately barreling at her. Arabella stumbled backwards trying to evade the attack, but her boot caught on a rock and she tumbled over with a loud grunt. The wolf took the opportunity of her unbalance to sink it’s fangs into her right cheek, ripping her skin. Blood came oozing out and Arabella panicked, she was more conditioned for combat with humans but not so much wild animals. She wished really badly that she had scavenged around more to find a dagger or a sword, any type of sharp weapon really.

Still not familiar with how magic works, she could only hope her newfound magical inclinations would assist her. She urged the lightning in her palm to save her and did what she thought was the best way to attack. She thrust her hands onto the beast’s stomach with all of the strength she could muster and it unlatched its fangs from her face to let out a yelp. 

The wolf went down without much of a fight, the shock of electricity putting it down. But on further investigation she saw the wolf had a long bleeding gash down it’s side, so she suspected it was already on the cusp of death anyways. 

Arabella lurched forward, the bile in her stomach pushing it’s way back up. She felt the corner of her eyes tear up as she gagged even more, the burning sensation in her head reappearing. Her hands were shaking when she examined them, newly forming purple strikes visible on her fingers. 

“Gods, this is the law of exchange with magic, isn’t it?” She breathed aloud as she recited something she remembered hearing when she was younger, “For each act of power carried out a price must be paid.” She let herself slump over, the taste of copper now accumulating in her mouth. 

The adrenaline was slowly wearing off and as she came into a more settled mindset she remembered the sight of the corpse beneath the wolf. The sound of heavy breathing was now echoing off the walls of the cave and after some surveying she noticed a small ball of white hovering above the corpse.

Attempting to muster up the strength, she heaved herself off the ground and took several shaky steps towards the corpse only to fall over again. She froze when she heard a soft, familiar laugh echo throughout the den. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a vision of Vaermina floating at the entrance, clearly entertained by the scene laid before her.

“My, my, you seem to have stumbled upon something very interesting.” She floated forward to the corpse, settling down in front of it to peer at the bright orb. 

“Don’t you think you should help me?” Arabella spat out, peeved that Vaermina always took a patronizing tone when she interacted with her. Gods, did Arabella really hate that.

Vaermina moved her head in Arabella’s direction and then cocked it to the side as if she was playing innocent, “Whatever do you mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that I’ve almost died several times today and have no clue what is going on except for the fact that maybe I have gone crazy? I’m bleeding from my face and who knows what affliction I may receive after being bitten by a feral animal.” Arabella huffed, dragging her fingers against the blood that was already beginning to form a crust on her face.

“Fine, I suppose I can give you a little bit of help. But only to stop the bleeding, you need to figure your life out on your own.” Vaermina coasted her way over to Arabella and gently laid a hand on the injured side of her face. A cooling sensation rushed through Arabella’s body and she allowed herself to close her eyes as she indulged in it. It was the nicest sensation she had felt in weeks. When the weight of a hand was removed from her, she opened her eyes and saw Vaermina standing back by the corpse.

“Come, come, my dear,” She waved her hand with a bit of excitement showing, “I will teach you how to use the new skill you received.”

“New Skill?” Arabella questioned, a confused expression on her face as she racked her brain for an answer.

“The Net of Souls.” Vaermina replied, as if a nondescript answer would provide enough intel. When it was clear Arabella still didn’t know what she was talking about she continued, “The skill you unlocked at the meditation area in The Void.”

Arabella let out a soft ‘ah’ and slowly lifted herself off the ground to walk over to the corpse. The smell was downright foul, but unfortunately after being exposed to it many times already Arabella didn’t seem to be fazed by it anymore. Perhaps she was getting a little bit too comfortable with death and decay at this point. 

Vaermina guided Arabella's hands over the orb, a new magical sensation flowing through her hands. Flashes of a life that wasn’t hers passed through her mind; The life of a warrior who fought blade to blade courageously, only to be taken down by an illness alongside an ambush. It would have been a more shocking experience to her had she not been having visions from other’s lives left and right already. The breathing seemed to cease once contact had made.

“This is part of your newfound powers,” Vaermina began while the orb slowly transformed into the shape of a colored stone in Arabella’s palm. It weighed relatively nothing and was tinted in a deep red color, similar to the shade of running blood. “You have the power to see and harvest certain souls. Souls of people who still have business left in the world and still long to see it completed.” 

“And why exactly should I care about that?” Arabella asked, even though she had already started to pocket the soulstone into the coin purse attached to her belt.

“Ultimately you don’t have to, but there are certain benefits to using them. By using a specific type of alchemy you can create talismans that allow you to summon upon these restless souls in times of need.” Vaermina answered while slowly drifting away from Arabella. “You must continue on with your journey now, I merely stopped by to leave you with a lesson on souls.”

With that statement Vaermina vanished out of the world leaving a perplexed Arabella behind. “Gods above, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder,” 

\---------- 

In the distance Arabella could make out a pillar of smoke rising from what she assumed was a campsite. The idea of figuring out where she was would be ideal, but she wasn’t sure she really wanted to interact with strangers that much.

As she reached her destination she could make out that it was a campsite. There was an older man stoking a fire in the middle of a small clearing, while just out past the camp there were steps leading up to a dam house. 

At the sound of her approaching footsteps the older man turned around, “Now would you look at that… I knew I’d seen someone scrambling in the mountains. What brings you here Mydame?”

It took her mouth a few moments to catch up with her brain before she scowled out, “I don’t think that’s really any of your business.” 

“Ha, I know that accent… You’re Nehrimese aren’t you?” He questioned her, sounding oddly proud of the fact he recognized her origins. He added the next part under his breath as he turned back around to fiddle with the fire again, “Though obviously not the most sociable of fellows, it would seem.”

At that same moment, an Aeternean man made his way down the steps of the dam house. He was digging around in a bag that was saddled around his waist as he grumbled out, “There we go, everything’s locked up. At least for the night we should-” He stopped cold in his tracks once he noticed Arabella standing to the side of their campsite.

“Who’s this?” His eyes immediately glowered towards the first man’s direction. 

“Just an adventurer on her way. No reason to worry.” The first man nonchalantly shrugged as he started moving around the campsite. There was a table set up to the left of the campfire that had what Arabella assumed were herbs on it. If she squinted, she thinks she can make out a packet of peaceweed on the surface. There were several potion bottles and a brewing stand set up, and it occurred to her that these two men in front of her were Apothecarii. 

“No reason to worry?” There was an audible smack on the second man’s face as he brought his hand to his face. “For the Gods’ sake, Finn. How do you know that this girl isn’t with the bandits? You said you would call me if anyone showed up.” He began to pace back and forth while the other man got to work at the brewing station. Arabella took a moment to consider slipping away during the argument, but she found her feet rooted to the spot. Guess she was going to ride this quarrel out then. 

When she tuned back into the conversation, the second man was still going off at, was his name Finn? Finn. The second man was still berating Finn for his lack of precaution. “And now you’re standing here having a chat with her as if we were in the bathing house of Ark.”

“Lo and behold, I am still alive. Now is there anything else Carbos?” Finn responded flatly. Carbos sighed and then made his way over to one of the tents at the campsite, never turning his back towards her.

“I’ve got my eye on you. Touch any of our stuff and you’ll regret it.” He threatened Arabella, and as enticing as swiping the pack of peaceweed off of the table was, she decided to abide by his rules.

“May I present…. Carbos, as he lives and breathes.” Finn gestured in Carbos’s direction before sighing. “Sorry about that just now, that’s just how he is. In any case… If you don’t need any more help, I’d suggest you move on. Follow the way east behind the dam house,” He pointed towards the stone building that stood atop the steps. Alongside it ran a bridge that crossed the gap of the river beside them. “It will lead you to a village called Riverville.”

He spent a few moments rustling around in a knapsack left near the campfire before pulling out a vial of red liquid. “Here take this as well, it’s a healing potion. Truth be told, you don’t look so healthy and as my status as an Apothecarii I could not let you go in good conscience like that.” Arabella couldn’t contain the snort and eyeroll that came as a response.

For good reason probably, Finn ignored her reaction. When he turned back towards her, he began to study her face. “Your eyes… ah, well, whatever.” He noted hesitantly.

“What about my eyes?” From where she was standing Arabella quirked an eyebrow.

“There’s something, erm… peculiar about you,” He hesitated before continuing on. “I don’t know how else to say it. I would examine you myself, but we don’t have the right equipment with us, so if I were you, I’d ask a priest in Riverville to have a look at you. Maybe you caught something from that temple.” His gaze flickered back up to the mountain she had arrived from. They both stood there in silence for a couple of seconds, unsure if the conversation should continue. Arabella squinted her eyes at the pair in front of her; she could sense that there was something off in the air this night.

She dug the tip of her boot into the soil underneath her while mulling her thoughts over before stating, “I guess that’s it then. I’ll be on my way,” 

As she turned away from the camp to make her way up to the dam house to the bridge, Finn called out to her with a wave, “I wish you a quick recovery and safe roads! Walk blessed!” 

Arabella grimaced when her back was turned to him. If all Endraleans were like this she wasn’t sure she could handle being here for long. Her options were very limited already that there was no way she would be able to afford passage to another country for a while, but perhaps Qyra would be the most ideal destination. She’d have to look into the idea at a further time. 

As if the Gods were trying to make her suffer as much as possible, her legs gave way only a few steps up the path. The dull thrumming back in her head and the burning sensation returned to her chest.

Finn immediately jogged over to where she was, attempting to help her sit upright. “By the righteous path, what is going on with you? You look as if you’ve met the Black Guardian himself.”

Arabella shoved his hands away from her and snarled out, “I don’t know, you’re the Apothecarii here. Shouldn’t you know what this is?” Finn stared at her in shock, visibly taken aback by her refusal for help. After a few seconds to collect herself and letting the pulsing in her head weaken, she mumbled a soft, “If you would really want to know, I keep having migraines and my body feels like it’s on fire.”

Finn brought his hand up to his face and stroked his beard. “Flashes of pain… Burning sensation? It’s probably a fever.” For the second time he attempted to help her and Arabella couldn’t find the energy in her to fight back anymore. She let him help her stand up and allowed herself to rest her weight on him as they stumbled back to the campsite.

“I think I have some gruntroot…” He paused while helping Arabella lower herself into a chair that was set up beside the campfire. “It should help ease your pain for now.” He moved himself towards a brewing station that was set up next to their tents.

“Oh now we’re brewing potions to help strangers?” Carbos interjected from the side to make it known he was still involved in this situation.

“Well, if the strangers are about to die of a fever, then yes.” Finn pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh before digging through a lockbox that sat on top of the makeshift station. “There was an oath we swore one, remember? ‘To help the afflicted, to…’”

Whatever he had continued to say Arabella tuned it out. She gazed at the fire, immensely drawn in by the flickers of the flames and sight of the embers blowing in the slight breeze. For a moment she felt like she was the only one around, but the solitary feeling was shattered by an explosion from the station at her side.

Taken aback, she could do nothing as she watched the world unfold around her. Her vision went blurry and she clawed around in a panic to keep a grasp onto the chair. There was shouting. Lots of shouting and lots of frantic movements. She thinks she even heard someone yell, “Do something damn it!” But she couldn’t be sure if she had actually heard or imagined that. Flashes of bright colors and lights burst into her vision, and a force unknown propelled her backwards into the brush where she passed out for another time. If she were capable of conscious thought at this moment, she would’ve hoped that that would be the last blackout she had in awhile.

\------

Arabella felt pain. After the day she had it was nothing new to her, but it was still a struggle to sit up. She opened her bleary eyes to take in the sight of a campfire again, but this time in a completely different area from where the Apothecarii were stationed. 

Caught off guard, she jumped a bit when she heard a man’s voice beside her, “Now look at that... Our mysterious survivor has awoken.”

“What…? Where? Who?” Arabella looked around, confused at the sudden change of scenery. The man couldn’t hide the amusement on his face as Arabella took a moment to take in her surroundings. The sun was just rising in the sky, so she inferred that she’d be passed out for the entire night. The new campsite resided on top of a lookout with a long path stretching downwards on the hill she was not aware they were on. She then turned her attention to her new companion, he looked to be a good handful of years older than her, maybe estimating that he was in his late 20’s, and was dressed in thin leather armor over his tunic. His face had a few scars on it and he had very shaggy gray hair. Despite there being a lot of room around the fire, he had sat directly by her side. 

He caught her staring at him and raised an eyebrow at her. She shot him a flat look before coughing a couple of times, finding out that her lungs were still on fire. A few grunts escaped her as she attempted to stretch her body, but her escapades had finally caught up to her. She hoped there would be a break from and hectic explosions or revelations for a while. 

“So who are you exactly?” Arabella coughed again and the copper taste of blood filled her mouth. She supposed she should just start getting used to this at this point.

“Jespar Mitumial Dal’Varek, Jespar for short. And you, my friend, are at my own campsite. Before you ask: yes, the bandits killed both of the Apothecarii.” He added in a matter-of-factly way before further expanding, “The only reason you’re still alive is that the impact of the explosion threw you right into the thicket. Most of your injuries are only superficial but your fever… well, that’s a different story.”

“My fever?” Arabella narrowed her eyes at him, “What do you know about it?”

“Quite a lot, actually,” He smirked at her, clearly enjoying having the upper hand in the conversation. His words felt very practiced and it almost put her at unease how smooth his tone of voice was. “You’re suffering from Arcanist’s Fever. Honestly, I’m surprised the old Apothecarius didn’t see that.”

If Arabella hadn’t been feeling out of the loop already, she certainly felt it now. What was it with Endraleans and giving the most vague answers while acting like it was all common information? She tightened her jaw, upset with how much knowledge she apparently had been lacking since she arrived. Needing help and needing answers made her feel useless and she certainly hated how pathetic this country had made her feel so far.

Sensing that she didn’t know what he was talking about, Jespar began to ask her questions. “Let me guess, you’re suddenly capable of doing things you previously knew only from the bards’ songs, right? You’re unusually strong, you have reflexes like a cat and drinking potions or any kind of magically infused substance leaves a ‘bitter afterglow’ in your head?”

“I’m not so sure about the reflexes of a cat since I’ve almost lost my life several times, but everything else mentioned seemed applicable.” Arabella responded flatly while trying to recount the past day in her head.

“Well then, congratulations,” He reached an arm over and slammed it onto her shoulder, almost toppling her over from how feeble she was at the moment. “You magical talent just blossomed. A bit late given your age, but it happens. Your fever is the result of your body not being able to cope with that. Things aren’t too bad right now, but if you don’t let an Arcanist treat you sometime soon, things are going to get grim.”

“Oh, joy. So you’re telling me that coughing up blood and barely being able to move is ‘not too bad’? Whatever was I worried about before?” She sarcastically muttered before groaning, “So an Arcanist will be able to cure this fever?”

“Contain it, not cure it.” Jespar waggled a finger in her direction which made her scowl. “From here on out, you’re always going to be a little more sensitive than someone without magical gifts, but that’s tolerable compared to what your magic will allow you to do.”

“Uh-huh.” Arabella paused for a moment. She wanted to find a way to escape this conversation but the reasonable part of her knew that she had to get answers. Well that, and she didn’t have any idea of where to go or what to do. “What exactly does ‘a little sensitive’ entail?”

“Prone to certain conditions. As I said, your fever will get worse if you drink healing potions, and you'll be a lot more susceptible to nightmares and those kinds of things.” He answered.

Arabella stifled a snort at the idea of having more nightmares. She didn’t think the amount could possibly get higher than what she already had. “Are there any other remedies then?”

“Well, there’s ambrosia, but for an uncontained fever, it’ll only postpone the symptoms. Later you can drink it whenever the fever gets worse. The stuff looks and tastes like Undead sweat and is bloody expensive, but it’s the only thing that really helps.” He had a far off look in his face while he tried to recall everything he could remember about the fever.

“Are visions also a side effect of the fever then?” After she ushered the words out of her mouth she instantly wanted to take them back. 

Jespar’s brows furrowed as he pondered her question for a moment, “You have… visions?”

“Oh, did I say visions? I must be really out of it,” She laughed dryly as she weakly waved her hand off to deflect the question but failed.

“Are you sure? The Endralean spider plague is known to cause visions in the infected.” Jespar tried to reason with her, “And if this is what you caught in that old temple, you might as well start digging your grave… because your limbs will start falling off in a few hours if you don't do something about it.” 

“Well I suppose that wouldn’t be the worst way to go.” Arabella winced as she tried to lean back from where she was sitting.

“I was just joking about that plague, it doesn’t exist. didn’t think you’d accept it that easily.” He let out a nervous laugh, still thrown off by your question earlier. Arabella didn’t think that out of everything that seemed to happen in Enderal that having visions was something people actually were surprised by. Gods be damned, if anybody found out she housed some kind of demonic presence in her mind then how would people react.

“Nothing makes much sense anymore, so I don’t think it’ll take much convincing to make me believe anything.” Arabella shrugged, trying to play everything off cooly. As if she didn’t just believe what he told her and that she was hiding her embarrassment because that would never happen. 

”I can tell you’re trying to keep something from me. That’s a bad idea if you really want me to help you.” Jespar countered as he leaned towards her. He really seemed to want to know more details about these visions she was having.

“Did I ever ask for your help?” She spat back at him, uncomfortable at how close he was to her and the assumption that she needed his help. He wasn’t wrong, but she was too prideful to accept that she couldn’t do it herself. 

“Jeez, fine, go perish somewhere else then.” He shifted back in his seat, visibly frustrated at her lack of cooperation. “But if you would let me help, your fever is in pretty serious condition. I have a connection to someone who could help you contain it.”

Arabella took a moment to try and rationalize the situation. She was all alone in a new country without any prior knowledge of it, she somehow had a new magical connection to a demon, and she now has a fever that is stronger than her body can handle. As much as she hated the idea of relying on others, there wasn’t much else she could do in this situation. She finally relented with a grimace, “Fine, I suppose if I must I’ll let you help me” 

“I’m not doing it for free, I want you to tell me everything about these so-called visions. I believe telling me would suffice as a good enough payment. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something strange about you, and that intrigues me. What do you say?” Jespar shot something similar to a smoulder in her direction and she scrunched up her face in response.

“The trade could be worse, but information for treatment seems to be an okay deal.” She took a deep breath before indulging him with the details of her past day.

\------------------------

“So let me summarize- You somehow survived a shipwreck, and, while you were half-dead, had this… dream in which you saw burnt bodies and a… blinding light?” Jespar couldn’t hide the doubtful tone in his voice. 

“It felt more like a memory rather than a dream, it felt much heavier. The temple that was in my visions was the same one as the valley.” Arabella began to rub at her arm nervously, feeling slightly embarrassed over the fact that it all sounded so far-fetched.

“And you also said that your magic didn’t develop gradually, as it usually does, but all at once right?” Jespar brought a hand to his chin as he processed the information.

“If by all at once you mean the first time I looked at the tomes I found, then yes.”

“Well that’s… quite the story. I guess you know how absurd it sounds, but for some reason, I believe you. I’ve met a lot of liars in my life, and you aren’t one of them.” Arabella let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when Jespar responded. Why did she feel so concerned all of a sudden for this man’s approval? 

“Alright, it’s settled then. I’ll introduce you to my employer and ask him to treat you. But before we leave, however, there’s something else I need to take care of and I could use a hand. The sooner we get that done, the sooner we can make for Ark.” Jespar clapped his hands together and then began to stand up, he started to move away from her but then froze when she opened her mouth to ask another question.

“Before I help you, can you tell me more about this employer of yours? I feel like I have the right to know who I’m going to be helping out.” Arabella let out an indignant huff and crossed her arms, making no move to get up.

“Well aren’t you curious… I work for the Holy Order.” He looked down to where she was sitting and shot another smirk at her, amused that she’s even trying to keep the conversation up. Little did he know she was actually just buying time for her body to recover even the slightest bit more.

“Hm, the Holy Order? You mean the enforcers of the Light-Born?” She racked her brain trying to remember even the slightest information she could find about Enderal.

“Yeah, but they’re more than just a military unit here…” Jespar let out a snort of air before settling back down again. He knew this conversation would start to get lengthy again. “Enderal belongs to Malphas, the Guardian God, and the Order answers directly to him. In other words, they are calling the shots here. No King, no queen, no council… Just an order of noble warriors always looking so stern and joyless that you might think they’re struggling with constipation.” He glanced over at his new companion to see if she caught his joke, but judging by the blank contemplating look on her face she didn’t.

“Uh huh.” She let the words he said settle over her, before beginning to talk again after a few minutes pause. “What if I wanted to do this on my own? Make my way to Ark and meet with the Holy Order?

“Um.. up to you?” He was visibly taken aback by her questions, but considering he didn’t know her that well she didn’t feel like he had to look that shocked. He appeared to be grasping for words, anything to get her to stick with him because she supposed he needed her help more than he let on. “But without me accompanying you, the guards won’t let you into the Suntemple in Ark, and that’s the only place you can get your fever treated.”

“Ugh, fine, I’ll help if it’ll make things go faster.” She groaned as she let her head fall forward, finally accepting the fact that she does need to have his help to improve.

“Splendid.” He clasped his hands together and shot her, yet another, smirk. At this point her blood was starting to boil every time he did it. Who did this asshole think he was, trying to charm someone like her? 

Unphased at this point by the glare she shot his way he continued, “You’ll need some information before you can help me, though. I take it the fact that Vyn has seen better times hasn’t eluded your attention, has it?” He paused waiting for any response from her, in which he received the slightest nod of her head in confirmation. “For the last two years, there’ve been wars and unrest everywhere. And even though in Enderal there’s officially peace, there are peculiar things happening here too. Normally docile animals and Vatyrs attacking wanderers in the open, the dead awakening in hordes… It’s unsettling to say the least. The strangest thing, however, is the ‘Red Madness’.” Arabella’s eyes widened and Jespar let out the slightest of chuckles, realizing now he’s really got her attention.

Without hesitation Arabella blurted out, “Do you think this chaos could be in any way related to the rumors about the Light-Borns’ death? Everyone in Nehrim talks about them.”

“I’ve heard of those rumors, and I could indeed imagine that they’re true and that there’s a connection, yes.” He took a second to respond, digging through past theories he’s had in his brain.

“Then you actually believe that someone did kill the Gods?” Arabella shifted her position, ignoring the soreness she felt in her muscles, leaning towards him with her eyes shining. Jespar found it almost endearing how she was finally showing a positive emotion.

“As I said, maybe. If you ask me, the Light-Born were never more than imposters anyway. Fake gods.”

This made Arabella quirk her brow at him, “And here I thought the Endraleans were the most pious people in the civilized world.”

“Oh, I’m hardly representative…” He passively waved his hand in the air, “I’ve seen that a long life is only one of the things powerful magic can achieve… And the ‘false deity’ theory isn’t that new after all, is it? Seriously, say the Light-Born really are as mighty as the revelations say they are, wouldn’t they have the power to call down lighting on me right here and right now, to punish me for my insolence?” He took a moment to dramatically gesture to the sky to prove his point. “No, the Light-Born were immortal kings, and that’s all.” He scoffed, before quickly adding on, “At least, that’s how I see it. I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings?”

“Far from it.” Arabella settled back down with a smug look evident on her face. 

“Splendid. You never know, but we digress.” He shared the same self-satisfied look as her.

They settled into a comfortable silence, recognizing that they have something in common that most don’t share. Before she could stop herself Arabella continued to ask questions, “Right, so you mentioned something about a ‘Red Madness’?”

“It’s, uh, some kind of.. Mental illness that makes people lose their mind. Just a couple of weeks ago, there was a smith in Ark who butchered his entire family. He was drunk, but that doesn’t explain why he screamed things like ‘Fear the light!’ while he was doing it.” Arabella sat in silence as Jespar recounted past events. “Or a young woman of noble path who set her own house on fire, while her family was asleep. Now, you might say that these kinds of things happen, but by now there have been more than a dozen incidents in a very short period of time. The fact that the afflicteds’ eyes glow red while they go rampant, has made people call the disease the ‘Red Madness’. Thing is, some weeks ago it happened again. Only this time it was a magister from the Holy Order itself.”

“A magister?” Arabella pondered.

“Yeah, a teacher who instructs the novices aspiring to become Keepers. His name was Yero, a man with more than sixty winters on his back. According to the sole survivor, he entered the teaching room that day as usual, but instead of giving his lecture on alchemy he gave a strange kind of speech where he kept going on about how mankind is corrupted and that it has ‘succumbed to the Void.’ Then his eyes started glowing, he locked the door, and blew himself up in a magical explosion.” She cast her gaze to the ground while trying to let the weight of his words settle in. She was no saint but she could even recognize how awful the Red Madness sounded.

“You said you work for the Order, but I take it you’re no… monk?” Arabella gave him a once over yet again, trying to piece together all the information he’s given her.

“I’m not one for vows and austerity, so no, I’m no Keeper. My speciality is recovering lost things, treasures, tomes, memories and the like, and the Order hired me to do just that. They wanted to know how a man like Yero could fall victim to the Red Madness.. And if there’s something like a pattern to this malady.” 

“You’re after his motives. How can I help you with that? I don’t know anything about that magister.” 

“Doesn’t matter. Yero grew up in a small village not far from here, and according to the Order, he visited it quite often after his partner died. What I want your help with is finding clues as to why he did what he did. What do you think?” Jespar gave her a hopeful glance, clearly just wanting to get this task over with and trusting that she would comply.

“Well, if it ends with me feeling better, then I suppose I can be of assistance.” She let out a huff of boredom, trying to feign the idea that she wasn’t interested but both of them knew better than that.

“Great.” He immediately began to task her with his requests, “First of all, I want you to travel to Riverville and talk to an old man named ‘Alfrid’, a childhood friend of Yero’s. Ask him what he makes of the incident and whether he has any explanation for it. Secondly, a farm boy told me that he saw Yero throw something into the sea during his last visit there. The winds have been blowing inland the last couple of days, so go search the shoreline and see if it washed up.” Arabella blinked twice, trying to keep up with the surefire way he launched into the debrief. He really was prepared for her help, wasn’t he?

“I myself will take a look at the house Yero grew up in. Ah, wait, here,” He pulled out a map, she assumed a spare, and began to mark on it with a piece of charcoal. “This is the map of the region. Yero’s house is right here,” He gestured to a big ‘X’ he had scribbled. “So, unless there is anything else, I’d say let’s step to it. Just meet me at the farm when you’re done.”

Jespar kicked dirt over the campfire, putting the flames to rest while a small trail of smoke rose in the sky. He spared her one last glance before shrugging and taking off down the hillside towards a trail that had been left for caravans passing through. Arabella watched him as he continued down the mountain before letting out a huge sigh. It was just one thing after another, wasn’t it? At this point she felt like she had earned a break since moving around was still a tedious task for her. 

Breathing in and out was difficult but whatever the Apothecarii had given her had alleviated the heavy pain in her chest. It’s a shame that they traded their lives for it. But what can you do about it but move on. At least, that’s what she would keep telling herself.


End file.
